Heartbeat
by No Guns Only Roses
Summary: "Listen to that. Can you hear it? As long as it keeps beating, I'll never leave you." Raph struggles to stay alive while trying to keep his baby brother calm.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so I've earned the title "heartbreaker" here on FanFiction. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...? How about a non-depressing fanfic for once? :)**

"I'm s-so cold, Raph"

"I-I know, Mikey. M-m-me too."

The older Turtle did his best to shelter his little brother from the bite of the bitter winter wind and the swarming snowflakes by covering him with his body. A pile of snow began to form on Raph's shell as the minutes passed. It didn't help that he had a deep wound in his right side from which blood was gushing and staining the once pure white snow red. Both of them were too weak and wounded to get up and find a warmer and more secluded place to hide in until their brothers found them. So all they could do is continue to lie there on the blanket of snow and wait.

Some of the blood dripped onto Mikey's hand, which startled him. "R-Raph, are...are you b-bleeding?" Mikey asked in a small, frightened voice.

"I-I'm okay, Mikey," Raph calmly assured him, though he knew that he was far from okay. "Don't worry about me."

"But-but you bleeding?" Mikey asked again, starting to sound more frantic. "I-I feel something wet on-"

"Shhhh..." Raph gently hushed his baby brother and stroked his cheek. He lifted his head a bit to look down on Mikey's face. His lips were starting to turn purple from the cold and his little freckles had faded a bit along with the lime green color of his skin. And his once baby blue eyes were now completely white.

Mikey had lost his sight during the battle with Tiger Claw. That blasted furball was definitely going to pay for this later. **If** there is a later, Raph thought to himself.

All of a sudden Raph felt a sharp pain in his side and went into a coughing fit. He turned his head to the side so that none of the blood would land on Mikey's face.

"Raph!" Mikey hoarsely screamed.

"It-it's okay, L-Little brother," Raph stuttered after he finally stopped coughing. He was glad that Mikey was unable to see his face, which would've given away the unbearable pain that he was feeling right now.

But Mikey wasn't in any way soothed by his brother's words. "Raph," Mikey's voice quivered as he started to cry, "are...are you going to die?"

"No, of course not," Raph immediately said. Although he hated to lie to Mikey, he didn't want to worry his already distressed brother. But then again, he just might pull through this.

He seriously doubted it, though.

Letting out a sob, Mikey gripped both of Raph's sides. "P-please don't die. Please! Don't...don't leave m-me all-all alone here...!" Streams of hot tears flowed down Mikey's cheeks as continued to beg his brother not to die.

Mikey's fingers dug painfully into his wound, but Raph did his best to stifle a grunt of pain. He knew that Mikey didn't mean to hurt him, nor was he aware that Raph was seriously hurt in that particular area, and he didn't want Mikey to find out and panic even more. So instead of telling Mikey to let go, he simply rested his forehead against his little brother's and continued to softly shush him.

"Mikey, I won't die," he whispered as he lovingly nuzzled Mikey's beak.

He heard Mikey sniffle wetly. "You promise?"

Raph couldn't bring himself to make that promise, so he instead shifted to where his chest touched Mikey's cheek and pulled him closer. "L-listen to that, Mikey. Can-can you hear it?"

He felt Mikey nod against his plastron. "Your heartbeat," he croaked.

"Yeah, you-you just keep listening to that heartbeat. And-and as long as it keeps beating, I'll never leave you."

"B-but what if-"

"Shhhh, don't talk. Just listen."

Mikey finally relaxed and closed his eyes, listening to the comforting sound of Raph's beating heart. It was slow but strong and made him feel safe. Raph always made him feel safe...except when he was chasing him around the lair for playing a prank on him or breaking his stuff. Mikey couldn't help but smile to himself as he slowly drifted off to sleep in Raph's arms, the strong heart pounding against his cheek.

Raph smiled wearily as he watched Mikey fall asleep, but then winced as the pain returned. He instantly reached for the wound with his right hand, feeling the warm blood spill through his fingers. The world around him became blurry and he could feel his strength leaving him. His entire body shivered from the cold and it was getting harder for him to stay awake.

Then he felt Mikey shift slightly under him.

"No," he gritted his teeth and inhaled deeply, the cold air burning his lungs. "Not yet." He closed his eyes and willed his heart to keep beating...for his little brother's sake.

* * *

"Leo, let me have a look at your arm."

"Never mind that! We need to find Raph and Mike-AAH!"

Leo hissed in pain and gripped his bleeding shoulder. The two brothers hid in an alley, several miles from the where the intensive battle took place about half an hour ago.

"Leo!" Donnie shouted in aggravation. "Stop pushing yourself! Your shoulder is seriously damaged!"

"I don't care about that, Donnie!" Leo retorted. "Our brothers are out there somewhere! Raph was badly injured when I last saw him! So was Mikey! They could be dying for all we know!"

"Leo, please," Donnie reached for Leo's other arm, but the leader roughly shoved him away.

"Don't try to stop me," Leo growled. "I am not going to lose Mikey or Raph."

"Like how you lost Master Splinter?"

Leo visibly flinched at those words. His midnight blue eyes burned with tears at the memory of their father being impaled by the Shredder and then falling to his death.

Donnie looked at his brother with sympathetic auburn eyes and gently touched Leo's good shoulder. "Leo, look, I get it," he softly said. "But you can't help Raph and Mikey in this condition. It won't take me but a couple of minutes to-"

"We might not have a "couple of minutes", Donnie!" Leo screamed. "I can't...!" He squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lower lip, the tears finally falling free.

"Leo..." Donnie sadly whispered.

"I can't fail them, too," Leo choked.

"Then let me help you first," the genius brother took his gauze bandage roll from out of his belt and coaxed Leo to sit on the ground. "And then we'll go looking for them together. Okay?"

Leo sighed in defeat and allowed Donnie to tend to his shoulder, all the while fidgeting impatiently. He silently prayed to himself as Donnie worked. Please stay live. Don't die on us, guys. Stay alive.

Once Donnie had finished, they immediately began to search for their brothers throughout the city. For ten solid minutes, they could not find any sign of them...until they finally spotted a trail of blood leading to the docks. Leo's heart pounded with fear as he and Donnie followed the trail. Oh, god, oh, god, oh, god, oh, god...!

As they got closer to their destination, they could make out a figure lying on a dock. Leo's eyes widened as he instantly recognized that red mask. "RAPH!"

 **"NOOOOOO!" Leo screamed at the top of his lungs as he raced toward his father's body which was lying on the street.**

Nearly all of Raph was covered in snow, and his skin looked deathly pale. His right side had been bleeding greatly and left a large red spot on the white ground. Leo dropped to his knees and shook his brother, the snow falling off of him. "Raph, talk to me!" he desperately shouted. Raph didn't respond and continued to lie very still.

 **"Father...!" He knelt over Splinter, who didn't respond and continued to lie very still.**

Donnie gasped as he spotted something under Raph's body. "Mikey?!" He and Leo very carefully rolled Raph over, allowing him to take Mikey into his arms. His little brother let out a very faint moan, but Donnie definitely heard it. "Oh, my god," his voice quivered. "He's still alive. Mikey, can you hear me?" Mikey responded by slightly opening his eyes, and Donnie instantly covered his mouth with his hand in shock. "He's blind," he whispered.

"Is...is it permanent?" Leo asked as he gingerly held Raph in his arms.

"I don't know," Donnie swallowed a lump around his throat as he continue to check Mikey over. "Is Raph...?"

Leo focused his attention back on Raph and put a hand over his brother's plastron, hoping to feel the thump of a heartbeat. There was nothing.

 **He placed a hand over Splinter's chest, waiting to feel a heartbeat, but there was nothing. "No!" he sobbed as he pulled his father's limp head closer to him. "Please!"**

"No!" Leo cried, pulling his brother closer. "Raph, please!" He quickly placed his fingers on Raph's neck in a final desperate attempt to detect a pulse.

And to his tremendous relief, he felt the faintest heartbeat.

He laughed tearfully as he grabbed Donnie's hand and guided it to Raph's neck. "Donnie, you feel that? Raph's still alive!"

The gap-toothed Turtle's jaw dropped and his eyes became as wide as saucers.

* * *

The steady beeping of the heart monitor echoed in the lab as Donnie finished tucking Raph in and re-adjusted the breathing mask over his face, which was slowly regaining its emerald color. A tube had been inserted in Raph's arm, transferring blood back into his body. Donnie chuckled to himself as he recalled Raph teasing and ridiculing him for asking for a small donation every year. He'll thank me after he wakes up.

He gave Raph a gentle pat on the knee before exiting the lab and plopped down on the couch next to Leo in the living room.

"So how is he?" Leo worriedly asked.

"He's going to be fine, Leo" Donnie calmly assured him. "It won't be a speedy recovery, of course. In fact, it'll probably be a month before he can even get out of bed."

"Well, all that matters is that he's still with us," Leo said with a small smile.

Donnie nodded in agreement. "And how's Mikey doing?"

"Still knocked out. He's completely exhausted. Donnie, about his blindness, will he ever...?"

"It's still too early to tell," Donnie sadly looked down at the carpet and twiddled his thumbs. "It could be permanent. Or maybe he'll get lucky and regain his sight."

"Hopefully," Leo whispered and looked at the floor as well. He was ashamed of himself for allowing this to happen to Mikey and Raph. There were times when he seriously doubted Splinter's wisdom in making him the leader of the team and eventually the Hamato Clan. No matter how vigorously he may train or how often he may mediate, he could never replace their Sensei.

The fact was Splinter left too soon.

"I still can't believe it," Donnie mumbled.

Leo turned his head and looked over at his brother. "What?"

"Considering the amount of blood he had lost and the time he had spent in the cold weather, Raph shouldn't even be alive. It completely baffles me."

Leo chuckled softly. "That's because Raph is just too stubborn to die, and he refuses to leave us behind. He'll do anything for his family." He smiled fondly at the memory of Raph sitting patiently next to the bathtub and watching over him in his comatose state. "Anything."

"Leo...?"

They instantly turned their heads to the direction of the small, frail voice that belonged to Mikey. The youngest Turtle slowly walked into the living room, feeling around him as he could no longer rely on his sight. Leo and Donnie immediately ran to his side and helped him over to the couch.

"Mikey, you shouldn't even be up," Donnie gently told him as he and Leo tried to sit him down.

But Mikey refused to move another inch. "Where's Raph?"

"Raph is fine, Mikey," Leo soothingly rubbed his little brother's shell. "He's recovering in Donnie's lab."

"Take me to him," Mikey said.

"Raph is resting right now," Donnie patted Mikey's hand. "When we wakes up, we'll-"

"Please," Mikey choked, tears brimming in his eyes. "I have to know for sure that he's still here. I have to hear him."

Donnie raised an invisible eyebrow in confusion. "'Hear him'?"

Leo's eyes slowly widened in realization. He remembered how he found Raph lying on top of Mikey, protecting his little brother from the snow and wind. A smile formed in his lips. Raph, you really are a good brother. He gently took Mikey's hand and slowly guided him to the lab.

"Wait, Leo, what are you doing?" Donnie followed them.

"Mikey needs this, Donnie," Leo whispered as he stepped through the entrance.

Mikey could hear the heart monitor as they walked in and squeezed Leo's hand.

"You hear that, Mikey?" Leo spoke softly to him. "You hear Raph's heartbeat?"

Mikey's lower lip trembled and he slowly nodded. He could hear Leo pulling the stool over to where they stood.

"Do you want to stay with him for a while?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Mikey croaked as he sat down on the stool with Leo's help. He felt Leo take his hand and place it over Raph's. His brother's skin still felt cold, but it was at least warmer than it was hours ago.

"I'll leave you two alone," Leo's footsteps faded as he walked out of the lab.

Mikey gently rubbed his thumb over Raph's calloused hand. The hear monitor continued to beep, the only indication that Raph was alive. He wanted to speak to his brother, to hear his rough yet comforting voice. He wondered if Raph could even hear him. He wanted to let him know that he wasn't alone and that they both made it.

 **"Shhhh, don't talk. Just listen."**

Listen...

Mikey got an idea and carefully pulled Raph's arm closer to him. He placed Raph's hand over his plastron, right where his heart was. He closed his eyes as his heart continued to thump against his chest and reach the other Turtle's palm.

Can you feel that, Raph? My heart? As long as it's beating, I'll never leave you.

Even though he couldn't see, Mikey had a feeling that Raph was smiling beneath his breathing mask.


	2. Chapter 2

**Pheonix09 wanted me to do another chapter of "Heartbeat", so here it is! :)**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

"How are we feeling this morning, Raph?" Donnie gently lifted his older brother's head as he adjusted the pillow a bit. It had been a week since Raph's dramatic near-death experience, and he was still feeling very weak and tired in his body, always being attended to by Donnie.

"Mmmm," Raph mumbled, looking up at the doctor of the family with slightly opened emerald eyes.

Donnie shook his head and crossed his arms. "Raph, I'm gonna need a more specific answer."

"I'm fine, okay?" Raph snapped. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"First I need to check your temperature," Donnie placed his hand on Raph's forehead and placed an electrical thermometer in his mouth, much to the bedridden Turtle's annoyance. He took it out after it beeped and read the temperature on the screen. "98.6. That's good. Are you aching anywhere in your body, Raph?"

Raph nodded. "My side still hurts a little."

"And it will for a couple of days. You just need to take it easy for a while."

"Ain't gonna argue with that," Raph sighed as he closed his eyes. Donnie gently patted his knee before leaving the room. It was time to check up on his other patient.

* * *

"What can you make out, Mikey?"

The youngest Turtle sat on a metal chair in Donnie's lab and was doing an eye test, reading off the Snellen chart that hung on the wall. In the last couple of days, Mikey's vision slowly returned, a transition from complete darkness to blurriness. It was a huge relief for everyone, especially Raph, who was ecstatic over hearing the news.

Mikey squinted his eyes and read the chart. "Uh...I can definitely see the big E on top. Then the F and P on the second row."

"Okay," Donnie pointed to the third row of letters with his ruler. "How about the next row?"

"Uh...T...O...Z?"

"Good! And the next one?"

"L...T...C...O?"

The row actually read L, P, E, and D. "Close, but not exactly." When Donnie noticed Mikey bow his head and slump his shoulders in defeat, he walked over to him and patted his shoulder. "That's great progress, though. You're getting better everyday, Mikey."

Mikey looked up at Donnie, who looked like a green and purple blur from his perception. "But when will I be able to see clearly, Donnie? I miss watching my favorite shows and reading my favorite comic books," he whined.

Donnie's heart ached for his little brother and he soothingly rubbed his shell. "It'll take some time for your eyes to completely heal, Mikey. Just...try to be patient, okay?" What else could he say?

The youngest Turtle nodded, though he still had a forlorn expression on his face. Hopelessness was also there. Donnie saw it and his heart shattered even more, if that was even possible.

"Mikey," he leaned close to his brother's face and gently placed his hands on both of his shoulders. "You _will_ see again. I promise."

"What if I don't get better?" Mikey's voice was small and cracked slightly.

"You will," Donnie insisted. "And you know how I can be so certain? It's because you're _amazing_. You're too amazing to let something like this keep you down."

For the first time in days, there was a glimmer of hope in Mikey's eyes. "Really?"

Donnie wrapped his arms around Mikey and held him close, resting his cheek on the dome of his head. "Really."

And he believed it, too.

* * *

Another night without sleep.

Leo dragged himself into the kitchen and plopped himself down in a chair, leaning over the table and resting his head in his arms. The nightmares just wouldn't go away and continued to haunt him.

Mostly they were about him failing to save Master Splinter. He'd watch helplessly as his father and Sensei was stabbed and then thrown off the building. The horrible scene kept replaying in his mind every day while he was awake and while he slept. Sometimes, the dream would end with him kneeling over Splinter's body, which would transform into Raph's, blood pouring out of the wound in his side and all color drained from his usual emerald skin.

He nearly jumped out of his seat when he felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder. He whipped his head around to see Donnie looking down at him with sad auburn eyes.

"Your eyes are bloodshot and you have dark circles," he quietly told the leader. "Couldn't sleep?"

Leo sighed and shook his head. "No."

"Leo, you're slowly killing yourself with this insomnia," Donnie went over to the kitchen counter and prepared some coffee for both Leo and himself.

"You're not getting enough sleep, yourself," Leo mumbled.

"Yeah, well, I'm the doctor of this family," Donnie said as he poured the coffee into two cups. "It's my job to take care of you guys whenever you're sick or injured, even if that means sacrificing a little sleep. Besides, I already have _two_ patients to worry about. I don't want to have to take care of a third one."

"Well, how am I supposed to make the nightmares go away, Donnie?" Leo snapped. "I've tried everything! Even meditation doesn't help!"

Donnie placed the two cups on the table before taking a seat next to Leo. "You and I both know what you need to do."

Leo tensed. He wasn't ready for _that_ yet. "I can't," he said as he reached for the cup of coffee.

"You can't," Donnie crossed his arms, "or you don't _want_ to?"

Leo only closed his eyes before lifting the cup to his lips.

* * *

 _"Why do you always have to question my decisions, Raph?!"_

 _The hotheaded Turtle rolled his eyes and huffed. He wished that Leo would just shut up and leave him alone._

 _They all had just returned home from a mission. A mission that ended in disaster thanks to Raph's temper and rebellion against his leader. Leo scolded him the entire trip back to the lair, and he was beginning to get a headache._

 _As usual, Mikey stepped in to try to ease the tension. "Hey, bro, it wasn't that bad," he playfully patted Leo's shoulder. "At least nobody got hurt."_

 _Leo instantly glared at Mikey, who sank his head back into his shell. "But somebody_ could've _gotten hurt," he growled as he turned back to Raph, "and it would've been_ your _fault, Raph."_

 _Raph groaned and threw his hands up in the air in annoyance. "Look, I'm SORRY, okay?! I screwed up! There! I admitted it! Happy?!"_

 _"You always apologize for your mistakes," Leo shook his head, "but you never really learn from them."_

 _"Well, excuse me,_ Sensei _," Raph spat out the last word as though it had a bad taste in his word._

 _"That's right," Leo roughly poked Raph's chest with a finger. "I am the Sensei now, and as your Sensei, I demand that you show me a little more respect and place the safety of your teammates before your pride."_

 _Raph narrowed his eyes hatefully at Leo and slapped the finger away. "I don't care if you are the Sensei," he snarled. "I'm not gonna let you boss me around like this. You're not my father, and_ you never will be _."_

 _Donnie's jaw dropped to the floor and Mikey slapped a hand over his mouth in absolute shock._

 _Leo, on the other hand, was beyond ticked by Raph's spiteful remark. He clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. "You're right," he said in an eerily calm voice. "I'm not Father, and I'm going to do something that our father never would have but should've done." He then pointed to the exit._

 _" **Out**."_

 _The whole room got silent. Raph stared at Leo with wide, disbelieving eyes. He forgot to breathe. "...What?"_

 _"You heard me," Leo repeated unsympathetically. "Out."_

 _This time, Donnie stepped in. "Leo, wait. Aren't you overreacting a bit?"_

 _"Yeah, bro!" Mikey said. "Kicking Raph out? That's crazy!"_

 _Leo didn't look at his other brothers and focused only on Raph. "I'm done trying to reason with him, guys. This was the last straw. He wants to endanger other people's lives? He's more than welcome to do it outside the lair."_

 _Raph studied Leo's face, hoping to see if this was some kind of cruel joke._

 _He quickly realized that it wasn't._

 _His hurt expression slowly transformed into that of anger. "Know what?" he whispered venomously. "Screw you. I'm out." He stomped toward the exit, but not before knocking over the pinball machine in a fit of rage. The loud crashing sound caused the others to flinch, and they watched as he jumped over the turnstiles and disappeared into the tunnels._

 _Donnie and Mikey both turned to Leo. Their leader shook his head and headed for the dojo. "He'll be back," he simply told them._

 _But he never did come back._

* * *

Later that night, Raph was ambushed by Tiger Claw and his men and was held hostage. When the others found out, they immediately went out to rescue their brother, but things quickly went from bad to worse. Raph was mortally wounded and Mikey was blinded in the heat of the battle, and they spent hours in the cold, huddled together on the dock. Raph was near death by the time Leo and Donnie found them.

And it all happened because of Leo's poor leadership and harsh treatment toward Raph.

Ever since then, every night, while Raph slept, Leo would sneak into his bedroom and listen to the steady beeping of the heart monitor, just to reassure himself that his little brother was still alive. But during the day, Leo would only say "hi" to him as he passed by the door every now and then. But he couldn't directly face him. Not after what happened that horrible day.

Because he blamed himself.

Whenever Donnie would urge him to go talk to Raph, Leo would excuse himself out of the room or quickly change the subject. The fact was he was too scared to face Raph. He was scared that Raph would say that he hated him for kicking him out and letting him be captured in the first place. Even though he knew that he deserved it, Leo couldn't find the courage to go into Raph's bedroom while he was awake.

But one night, as Leo slowly cracked the door open to check on Raph, he was surprised to find him sitting up on the bed and wide awake. He quickly turned to leave when he was stopped by Raph.

"Leo, wait."

Cursing under his breath, he opened the door all the way and faced his brother. "Y-Yeah, bro?" he nervously said.

"I want to talk to you, Leo," Raph sternly said as he crossed his arms. "I've been wanting to talk to you for the last couple of days, but you'd either run off or wait until I was asleep to come see me."

Leo swallowed and stepped into the room. "I know. I'm sorry." He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, folding his hands and looking down at the carpet. It was awkwardly quiet for a moment before he glanced over at Raph and said in a quiet tone, "So...what do you want to talk about?"

"I know what's been been eating you," Raph said. "You're still blaming yourself for what happened to me, aren't you?"

"It _was_ my fault, Raph," Leo sadly said, still looking down. "I was being an insensitive jerk and totally acting like a tyrant. I could've handled your temper a whole lot better but instead I pushed you away. I've failed both as a brother and a Sensei."

He jumped when he felt a hand slap the back of shell, but he still didn't turn to look at Raph. The hand still rested there and began to soothingly rub up and down. That one gesture was enough to break the barrier that held back his emotions and the tears began to build up in his eyes.

He shook Raph's hand off his shell. "Raph, stop," he croaked. "You don't have to pretend to forgive m-"

Leo was cut off by Raph's sudden hug. The younger Turtle wrapped his arms around his brother's neck and pulled him closer to his plastron (or at least as close as he could since he was still very weak). Leo's body started to tremble even more and the tears now cand down freely.

"Don't..." Leo choked, "don't you hate me...?"

Leo felt Raph shake his head against his cheek. "Not gonna lie, though," he said. "There were times where I came very close to hating you, especially right after you kicked me out. But I could never bring myself to hate you, bro, no matter how hard I try." He pulled away and leaned back into his pillow, a warm smile on his face. "And quit beating yourself up over what happened. I'm still here, aren't I? You and Donnie saved me."

A tearful smile formed on Leo's lips and he reached over to take Raph's hand, giving it a squeeze. "And you protected Mikey and kept him warm and calm. I honestly don't know what we'd do without you."

Raph gave him a cocky grin. "You'd all be lost without me."

"So you two finally reconciled."

The both turned to find Donnie and Mikey standing at the doorway. Donnie smiled at Leo as he guided Mikey to the bed. "I'm glad. You needed it."

Raph smiled gently at Mikey as the youngest Turtle sat down on the bed between him and Leo. "Hey, Little Brother. Your eyesight getting any better?"

For the first time since the incident, Mikey smiled his usual bright smile. "Every day, bro. I can actually make out your ugly mug now."

For a brief moment, Raph had an irritated look on his face, before he smirked and suddently grabbed Mikey in a playful choke hold, giving him a noogie. Leo smiled fondly at his two younger brothers then at Donnie, who smiled back.

They were finally healing together as a family.

* * *

 _It was their first night in the lair. Splinter laid each of his little ones in separate baskets_ _with warm, soft blankets that would serve as their beds. He kissed them on the forehead and tucked them in before shutting off the light and leaving the room._

 _But they had never been separated from each other before and none of them couldn't sleep. Mikey and Donnie whimpered. Raph tossed and turned in his bed. Leo nervously sucked his thumb. Finally, Mikey couldn't take it anymore and crawled over to the basket nearest to him, which was Raph's. He snuggled next Raph and laid his head on his plastron, listening to the comforting sound of his brother's strong heartbeat._

 _Soon, Donnie crawled out of his own basket and joined them, resting his cheek on Mikey's chest and listening to his heartbeat. Leo was the last to crawl in and he let Raph rest his head against his plastron so that his little brother could listen to his heartbeat while he, himself, listened to Donnie's._

 _Within moments, they fell asleep together, the rhythmic beating of their hearts serving as their lullaby._


End file.
